Upcoming Event: Men's Swimming and Diving versus Arizona State on October 10, 2025
M Swimming
vs Arizona State
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Wednesday, February 22
Pharr, Texas
Grand Canyon
at
WAC Championships
Lopes post best combined WAC finishes in program history
2/25/2023 11:50:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
GCU men, women each place 2nd at conference meet in Texas
PHARR, Texas – The Grand Canyon swimming teams closed the WAC Championships the same way they started them – swimming fast.
The Lopes' efforts secured second-place conference finishes for the men and women, with UNLV capturing the men's title and Northern Arizona winning the women's championship.
Heading into Saturday's final day of the four-day conference meet, the GCU men were in a close battle with California Baptist for second place while Wyoming was not far behind.
To get the podium runs started, Lopes sophomore Sam Jennings took silver in the 200-meter backstroke final with a time of 1 minute 44.05 seconds, which is an NCAA B cut and a personal record.
GCU sophomore Maria Brunlehner and graduate teammate Emily Muteti faced off in the 100 freestyle, with the duo taking the top two spots as Brunlehner's time of 48.81 seconds edged Muteti's 49.04. Both earned NCAA B cuts.
The men's 100 freestyle final was fast-paced with freshman Eli Cohen of Israel taking fourth with a personal best and NCAA B cut time of 43.44.
Aleksandra Wegrzynowska, a sophomore from Poland, won bronze in the women's 200 butterfly, clocking in at 1:59.84.
Lopes freshman Jonathan Rom, also from Israel, is now a WAC champion in the 200 breaststroke. The gold-medal winner had a time of 1:53.90 which Is an NCAA B cut.
With three Lopes in the men's 200 butterfly finals, there were high hopes to get a podium appearance in the event. In an exciting finish, GCU graduate Adrian Curbelo went 1:44.81 to take second place and edge freshman Guillermo Perosanz Lopez, who went 1:44.96 for third place. Both of the Spaniards' times are NCAA B cut times and personal bests.
The star-studded women's 400 freestyle relay, composed of Muteti, sophomore Maria Chatzi, senior Kaitlyn Carr, and Brunlehner, went 3:19.16 to take gold for GCU.
To close the championships, the men's 400 freestyle relay of three freshmen (Alex Volkov, Grzegorz Wanat and Eli Cohen) with senior Omar Elsayd as the anchor clocked in at 2:54.34 for a third-place finish.
In a year when Lopes head coach Steve Schaffer has discussed the strong team culture of the men's and women's teams, GCU ended the conference championships with the best combined result in school history.
Next up, 12 men and 12 women from the GCU rosters will head to Elkhart, Indiana, in early March to compete in what could be the last of meet of the year.
Full results from the WAC Championships can be found here.
WAC Championship by the numbers:
2 WAC Records
6 Team Records
18 NCAA B Cuts
30 Podium Finishes
12 Gold Medals
11 Silver Medals
7 Bronze Medals
65 New All-Time Top Ten Times
138 Personal Best Times
Day 3
It was another incredible showing for the Grand Canyon swimming and diving program at the WAC Championships on Friday night, when the Lopes posted more gold-medal wins and personal bests at Pharr Nataorium.
Entering Saturday's final day of the conference meet, the GCU men's and women's teams each are in second place. The women have a three-day total of 426 points, trailing Northern Arizona's 642, while the Lopes men are at 415.5, with UNLV in first at 586.
To start the individual finals, GCU freshman Paula Martinez Moreno took second in the 100-yard butterfly after going 53.55 seconds, a new personal best and an NCAA B cut.
On the men's side of the 100 butterfly, graduate Adrian Curbelo went 46.91 seconds to take gold and set a new personal best. The NCAA B cut worthy performance comes one night after being disqualified from the 200 individual medley.
Lopes sophomore Aleksandra Wegrzynowska, who is from Poland, is the 200 freestyle WAC champion after having a 1:48.19 personal-best time.
Perhaps the most exciting race of the night for Lopes fans came in the women's 100 breaststroke. GCU took gold and silver with sophomore Maria Brunlehner's first-place time of 1:01.18 and junior Raphaela Nakashima's second-place time of 1:01.33. The race came down to the touch at the wall. Both swimmers earned NCAA B cuts.
Lopes freshman Jonathan Rom placed third in the men's 100 breaststroke with a time of 53.47, resulting in another NCAA B cut.
Freshman Alex Volkov continued his morning success by taking second for the Lopes in the men's 100 backstroke. The freshman came up with a time of 47.73 seconds.
In diving, senior Abigail Erickson and sophomore Shiori Bak placed first and second, respectively, in the platform competition. The Lopes duo had scores of 249.0 for Erickson and 242.65 for Bak.
Volkov, Rom, Curbelo, and freshman Eli Cohen placed third with a time of 3:10.61 in the 400 medley relay to close out the evening session.
Final results through Friday can be found here.
Saturday preliminaries can be streamed here, while finals will be located here.
The Grand Canyon swimming and diving team had a good Thursday morning at the WAC Championships with numerous top-10 program times and personal bests, but the performances really got going under the Pharr Natatorium lights during the evening session.
To start the finals, the women's 200 freestyle relay team took first place. The relay team posted a time of 1 minute, 31.34 seconds with graduate Emily Muteti, sophomore Maria Chatzi, senior Kaitlyn Carr and sophomore Maria Brunlehner to become WAC champions.
The men's 200 freestyle relay won silver in the final with a time of 1:18.94. The relay included freshman freshman Alex Volkov, graduate Adrian Curbelo, freshman Eli Cohen and senior Omar Elsayd.
In the first individual swimming final of the WAC Championship, Brulehner won the 200 individual medley with a 1:59.19 time. When touching the wall, none other than Muteti, her close friend and teammate, was there to congratulate her on her NCAA B cut with a big smile and fist pump.
On the men's side, senior Griffin McKean placed second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:46.39, which also earns the senior an NCAA B cut.
GCU freshman Aleksandra Wegrznowska finished the 500 freestyle with a new personal best and school record of 4:51.29.
The last women's event of the night was the 50 freestyle, which meant it was time for Muteti, the Tokyo Olympics swimmer, to show why she has those Olympic rings tattooed on her back.
Muteti was the top seed heading into the finals with a preliminary time of 22.99. When the starter's gun went off, Muteti flew and did not let up. On her way to another WAC championship and NCAA B cut, the graduate student from Kenya dropped her time to 22.63 to claim gold.
Muteti had a huge smile and turned next to the blocks to find Brunlehner, who returned the congratulations.
The women's swimming and diving team sits in second place while the men are in third heading into Friday.
Firday's preliminaries can be viewed here, while the finals can be watched here.
Results through Thursday evening can be found here.
With only relays occurring on the conference meet's first night in the swimming events, the brand-new Pharr Natatorium had a buzz of excitement to it. Because of technical difficulties, the excitement began with each of the fans and student-athletes in the facility singing the national anthem before going into their team chants.
The Lopes led off the night with the women's 200-yard medley relay team of senior Briana Rittenbach, junior Raphaela Nakashima, freshman Paula Martinez Moreno and graduate Emily Muteti. The team touched with a screaming time of 1 minute 39.13 seconds. The first-place finish was a GCU school record and WAC record. In addition, Nakashima swam the fastest 50 breaststroke relay split in school history to assist her team in claiming the champion status.
Next, the Lopes' men's 200 medley relay took second place and put up the seventh-fastest time in school history at 1:25.73. The team included freshman Alex Volkov, junior Harper Houk, graduate Adrian Curbelo and senior Omar Elsayd.
In the women's 3-meter diving finals, GCU senior Abigail Erickson placed second with a score of 285.4 points.
The women's 800 freestyle relay team, which included sophomores Maria Brunlehner, Maria Chatzi and Aleksandra Wegrzynowska and freshman Krisalyn Henderson, are WAC champions after a winning time of 7:16.69 that also set a GCU record.
The men's 800 freestyle relay put up the second-best time in school history at 6:24.69. The third-place team included sophomore Vitaly Kostin, freshman Eli Cohen, senior Griffin McKean and Curbelo.
After the relays, numerous Lopes took the opportunity to do time trials. During this portion of the evening, freshman Jonathan Rom set a time trial school record of 1:54.12 in the 200 breaststroke, which is NCAA B-cut worthy and a WAC Championships record.
Out of the 22 swims from GCU, 18 were lifetime bests, and 21 were season-best times.
Full results from Wednesday can be found here.
The Lopes' efforts secured second-place conference finishes for the men and women, with UNLV capturing the men's title and Northern Arizona winning the women's championship.
Heading into Saturday's final day of the four-day conference meet, the GCU men were in a close battle with California Baptist for second place while Wyoming was not far behind.
To get the podium runs started, Lopes sophomore Sam Jennings took silver in the 200-meter backstroke final with a time of 1 minute 44.05 seconds, which is an NCAA B cut and a personal record.
GCU sophomore Maria Brunlehner and graduate teammate Emily Muteti faced off in the 100 freestyle, with the duo taking the top two spots as Brunlehner's time of 48.81 seconds edged Muteti's 49.04. Both earned NCAA B cuts.
The men's 100 freestyle final was fast-paced with freshman Eli Cohen of Israel taking fourth with a personal best and NCAA B cut time of 43.44.
Aleksandra Wegrzynowska, a sophomore from Poland, won bronze in the women's 200 butterfly, clocking in at 1:59.84.
Lopes freshman Jonathan Rom, also from Israel, is now a WAC champion in the 200 breaststroke. The gold-medal winner had a time of 1:53.90 which Is an NCAA B cut.
With three Lopes in the men's 200 butterfly finals, there were high hopes to get a podium appearance in the event. In an exciting finish, GCU graduate Adrian Curbelo went 1:44.81 to take second place and edge freshman Guillermo Perosanz Lopez, who went 1:44.96 for third place. Both of the Spaniards' times are NCAA B cut times and personal bests.
The star-studded women's 400 freestyle relay, composed of Muteti, sophomore Maria Chatzi, senior Kaitlyn Carr, and Brunlehner, went 3:19.16 to take gold for GCU.
To close the championships, the men's 400 freestyle relay of three freshmen (Alex Volkov, Grzegorz Wanat and Eli Cohen) with senior Omar Elsayd as the anchor clocked in at 2:54.34 for a third-place finish.
In a year when Lopes head coach Steve Schaffer has discussed the strong team culture of the men's and women's teams, GCU ended the conference championships with the best combined result in school history.
Next up, 12 men and 12 women from the GCU rosters will head to Elkhart, Indiana, in early March to compete in what could be the last of meet of the year.
Full results from the WAC Championships can be found here.
WAC Championship by the numbers:
2 WAC Records
6 Team Records
18 NCAA B Cuts
30 Podium Finishes
12 Gold Medals
11 Silver Medals
7 Bronze Medals
65 New All-Time Top Ten Times
138 Personal Best Times
Day 3
It was another incredible showing for the Grand Canyon swimming and diving program at the WAC Championships on Friday night, when the Lopes posted more gold-medal wins and personal bests at Pharr Nataorium.
Entering Saturday's final day of the conference meet, the GCU men's and women's teams each are in second place. The women have a three-day total of 426 points, trailing Northern Arizona's 642, while the Lopes men are at 415.5, with UNLV in first at 586.
To start the individual finals, GCU freshman Paula Martinez Moreno took second in the 100-yard butterfly after going 53.55 seconds, a new personal best and an NCAA B cut.
On the men's side of the 100 butterfly, graduate Adrian Curbelo went 46.91 seconds to take gold and set a new personal best. The NCAA B cut worthy performance comes one night after being disqualified from the 200 individual medley.
Lopes sophomore Aleksandra Wegrzynowska, who is from Poland, is the 200 freestyle WAC champion after having a 1:48.19 personal-best time.
Perhaps the most exciting race of the night for Lopes fans came in the women's 100 breaststroke. GCU took gold and silver with sophomore Maria Brunlehner's first-place time of 1:01.18 and junior Raphaela Nakashima's second-place time of 1:01.33. The race came down to the touch at the wall. Both swimmers earned NCAA B cuts.
Lopes freshman Jonathan Rom placed third in the men's 100 breaststroke with a time of 53.47, resulting in another NCAA B cut.
Freshman Alex Volkov continued his morning success by taking second for the Lopes in the men's 100 backstroke. The freshman came up with a time of 47.73 seconds.
In diving, senior Abigail Erickson and sophomore Shiori Bak placed first and second, respectively, in the platform competition. The Lopes duo had scores of 249.0 for Erickson and 242.65 for Bak.
Volkov, Rom, Curbelo, and freshman Eli Cohen placed third with a time of 3:10.61 in the 400 medley relay to close out the evening session.
Final results through Friday can be found here.
Saturday preliminaries can be streamed here, while finals will be located here.
Day 2
The Grand Canyon swimming and diving team had a good Thursday morning at the WAC Championships with numerous top-10 program times and personal bests, but the performances really got going under the Pharr Natatorium lights during the evening session.
To start the finals, the women's 200 freestyle relay team took first place. The relay team posted a time of 1 minute, 31.34 seconds with graduate Emily Muteti, sophomore Maria Chatzi, senior Kaitlyn Carr and sophomore Maria Brunlehner to become WAC champions.
The men's 200 freestyle relay won silver in the final with a time of 1:18.94. The relay included freshman freshman Alex Volkov, graduate Adrian Curbelo, freshman Eli Cohen and senior Omar Elsayd.
In the first individual swimming final of the WAC Championship, Brulehner won the 200 individual medley with a 1:59.19 time. When touching the wall, none other than Muteti, her close friend and teammate, was there to congratulate her on her NCAA B cut with a big smile and fist pump.
On the men's side, senior Griffin McKean placed second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:46.39, which also earns the senior an NCAA B cut.
GCU freshman Aleksandra Wegrznowska finished the 500 freestyle with a new personal best and school record of 4:51.29.
The last women's event of the night was the 50 freestyle, which meant it was time for Muteti, the Tokyo Olympics swimmer, to show why she has those Olympic rings tattooed on her back.
Muteti was the top seed heading into the finals with a preliminary time of 22.99. When the starter's gun went off, Muteti flew and did not let up. On her way to another WAC championship and NCAA B cut, the graduate student from Kenya dropped her time to 22.63 to claim gold.
Muteti had a huge smile and turned next to the blocks to find Brunlehner, who returned the congratulations.
The women's swimming and diving team sits in second place while the men are in third heading into Friday.
Firday's preliminaries can be viewed here, while the finals can be watched here.
Results through Thursday evening can be found here.
Day 1
The Grand Canyon swimming and diving team started out the WAC Championships with a bang on Wednesday with two relay conference champions.With only relays occurring on the conference meet's first night in the swimming events, the brand-new Pharr Natatorium had a buzz of excitement to it. Because of technical difficulties, the excitement began with each of the fans and student-athletes in the facility singing the national anthem before going into their team chants.
The Lopes led off the night with the women's 200-yard medley relay team of senior Briana Rittenbach, junior Raphaela Nakashima, freshman Paula Martinez Moreno and graduate Emily Muteti. The team touched with a screaming time of 1 minute 39.13 seconds. The first-place finish was a GCU school record and WAC record. In addition, Nakashima swam the fastest 50 breaststroke relay split in school history to assist her team in claiming the champion status.
Next, the Lopes' men's 200 medley relay took second place and put up the seventh-fastest time in school history at 1:25.73. The team included freshman Alex Volkov, junior Harper Houk, graduate Adrian Curbelo and senior Omar Elsayd.
In the women's 3-meter diving finals, GCU senior Abigail Erickson placed second with a score of 285.4 points.
The women's 800 freestyle relay team, which included sophomores Maria Brunlehner, Maria Chatzi and Aleksandra Wegrzynowska and freshman Krisalyn Henderson, are WAC champions after a winning time of 7:16.69 that also set a GCU record.
The men's 800 freestyle relay put up the second-best time in school history at 6:24.69. The third-place team included sophomore Vitaly Kostin, freshman Eli Cohen, senior Griffin McKean and Curbelo.
After the relays, numerous Lopes took the opportunity to do time trials. During this portion of the evening, freshman Jonathan Rom set a time trial school record of 1:54.12 in the 200 breaststroke, which is NCAA B-cut worthy and a WAC Championships record.
Out of the 22 swims from GCU, 18 were lifetime bests, and 21 were season-best times.
Full results from Wednesday can be found here.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
/ Women's Swimming and Diving
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/ Men's Swimming and Diving
/ Men's Swimming and Diving
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